NSS Weekly: Putting Limits on Residential Protests

Transcript

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INTRO: You are listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota, produced by AMPERS, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota.

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HOST: This is North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live. I'm Gracie. J.

State legislators are in their third week of session at the Capitol, in the second year of the 2025–2026 biennium, with an evenly divided House where most votes fall along party lines. In this week's program, we look at a bill that would penalize certain protests outside private homes, and we hear how cultural differences can make everyday financial tasks more complicated for immigrant communities. But first, here are some of the top stories from around the state.

The state grain is at the heart of a contentious debate and some lawmakers are trying to protect it. Wild rice is more than just a plant to Native Americans; for the Anishinaabe, it's literally a relative. A new bill would codify that relationship into law by officially recognizing the inherent right of uncultivated wild rice to exist and thrive in Minnesota. But for some lawmakers and state nature officials that's a step too far.

STEVE DRAZKOWSKI: Here's where we are trying to extend rights of people to rights of other beings, to plants and animals, which seems just very eccentric to me.

HOST: Senator Steve Drazkowski says the bill would open up the state to lawsuits and suggested that the state would have to police wild rice even from animals. Senator Mary Kunesh, who introduced the bill, says it would do no such thing. The bill would also add the Dakota and Ojibwe names for wild rice, psin and manoomin, to the statute. She says that's in line with the state's identity. Ultimately, the committee passed the bill along for further consideration.

Tensions came to a head at the Mni Owe Sni prayer camp at Fort Snelling, leaders from several Dakota and Lakota tribes from Minnesota and surrounding states demanded an end to the camp and the National Park Service ordered members to leave.

Since it went up nearly a month ago, several Dakota tribes have sent official letters to the national park service denouncing the camp, saying that it threatens years of restoration efforts and that it is situated atop burial mounds. Last week, tribal delegates approached the camp for the first time. One of the camp leaders, Allen-Michael Owen, says that—

ALLEN-MICHAEL OWEN: This is a fight for religious freedom and the restoration of a ceremonial ground to be held in whoever's trust. I don't seek to own this land, and none of us do.

HOST: At the end, members reached an agreement with a Lakota spiritual leader. Arvol Looking Horse, keeper of the sacred white buffalo calf pipe and bundle, met to negotiate the camp's end. They agreed to end the camp after completing four more days of uninterrupted prayer.

Minnesota's farming industry is struggling. The state lost about 1,300 farms in the past year, according to recent farm bureau reports. Data shows farm bankruptcies are climbing. Iowa led the Midwest states with 18 filings. Minnesota wasn't fair behind with thirteen.

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HOST: Minnesota lawmakers are considering a bill that would stop most pet stores from selling dogs and cats. Senator Scott Dibble says the bill will help stop some forms of animal cruelty.

SCOTT DIBBLE: A lot of times these businesses are associated with I said before sick animals, hidden veterinary costs and very opaque supply chains.

HOST: The proposal would ban new pet shops from selling animals purchased from large, volume-driven breeders, though existing stores could continue buying and selling the puppy mill puppies. Stores would have to buy animals from state or federally licensed breeders and disclose breeder license numbers. Pet stores could still host nonprofit adoptions but could not own the animals or collect a fee.

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HOST: Protests and demonstrations are a core part of American civic life. And here in Minnesota, high-profile marches from the aftermath of George Floyd's killing to more recent rallies over federal policy have drawn national attention. Now, some state lawmakers are pushing legislation that would tighten rules around certain protest tactics—and create new penalties for actions they say cross the line. Reporter Jose Ozoria has the story.

REPRESENTATIVE WALTER HUDSON: In recent years, we've seen a troubling trend, coercive agitators cloaked in the guise of activism, deliberately targeting private residences. Not to persuade, not to make a credible argument, but to intimidate the individuals and families who reside there.

JOSE OZORIA: That's Representative Walter Hudson, who represents District 30, a suburb northwest of downtown Minneapolis. Representative Hudson is one of the authors of the Residential Protesting Bill currently being considered by the state legislature, speaking before the Public Safety Committee. Representative Hudson makes the argument that someone's home should have established protections.

REPRESENTATIVE WALTER HUDSON: There are constitutionally recognized and long-standing time, place and manner restrictions, and one of those restrictions properly ought to be each of our homes.

JOSE OZORIA: Along with the societal and legal reasons behind his push for this bill, Hudson describes the very personal reasons why he co-authored this bill as his home was recently targeted for protest.

REPRESENTATIVE WALTER HUDSON: Showing up to somebody's house to scare their children, such as what happened to me last Friday, where I wasn't home for a couple of minutes. I was a couple blocks away, and I get a frantic call from my kid, and he's clutching a knife in the kitchen, and I have to direct them to an interior space of the house.

JOSE OZORIA: Protesting is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which also allows citizens the right to petition the government to request changes or complain about policies without fear of punishment. Representative Hudson notes that this bill is rooted in current US law.

REPRESENTATIVE WALTER HUDSON: This approach is firmly grounded in Supreme Court precedent. In Frisby v. Schultz, the Court held that focused picketing at a residence may be prohibited because the home holds a unique place in our constitutional tradition.

JOSE OZORIA: So the bill, as proposed, would make a first offense a misdemeanor. It becomes a gross misdemeanor if the person has a previous conviction for residential protesting or is violating an existing court order. In US law, a gross misdemeanor is more serious than a standard misdemeanor, but less severe than a felony. The bill has drawn the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, an organization that's devoted to preserving the rights and liberties enshrined in our Constitution and law. The ACLU wrote a letter to the House Public Safety Committee expressing, "to prohibit protests outside of residential areas is restrictive and unnecessary."

MUNIRA MOHAMED: This bill would essentially ban residential protesting of any kind outside someone's home.

JOSE OZORIA: Munira Mohamed is the policy associate with the American Civil Liberties Union and the author of the letter that was sent to the House Public Safety Committee on behalf of the ACLU. Ms. Mohamed says the law very clearly defines what can and can't be done while protesting in a residential area.

MUNIRA MOHAMED: If people are assembling and protesting in a way that is not breaking any underlying laws, that I think would be within the realm of First Amendment protections. If that conduct then changes into something that's violent or intimidating, that would then be outside of the realms of First Amendment protected activity.

JOSE OZORIA: Ms. Mohamed notes that the bill appears to be a solution in search of a problem.

MUNIRA MOHAMED: There is already laws on the books that would get at what the bill is concerned with, which is coercion, harassment, intimidation.

JOSE OZORIA: And for the ACLU, this bill is highly problematic because the wording is vague and does not touch upon some very specific details for enforcement.

MUNIRA MOHAMED: There is no exact feat given, or any kind of measurements of actual location, distance, that kind of broad language. It could be interpreted any number of ways, and perhaps interpreted in a lot of bad faith ways.

JOSE OZORIA: Opponents of the bill are asking if federal agents' actions during Operation Metro Surge should also be considered in the legislation.

REPRESENTATIVE ATHENA HOLLINS: As a person who was followed by ICE to my home that they looked up.

JOSE OZORIA: During the committee hearing debating the proposed protest bill, Representative Athena Hollins of district 66b asked a very specific question of Representative Hudson, co-author of the bill.

REPRESENTATIVE ATHENA HOLLINS: This is something that they were doing to intimidate me. And I am curious if what you are putting into law or what you are hoping to put into law would apply to federal agents.

JOSE OZORIA: To this question, Hudson had a very clear response.

REPRESENTATIVE WALTER HUDSON: The state of Minnesota has no jurisdiction to put, place restrictions upon the activity of federal law enforcement officers.

JOSE OZORIA: Munira Mohamed says the ACLU finds it surprising that this bill focuses only on the actions of the community.

MUNIRA MOHAMED: This bill is targeted at just really everyday people who want to protest and not against federal agents who have actually been assaulting people and abusing people, I think is quite shocking.

JOSE OZORIA: Another version of this bill was introduced by Minnesota's GOP last session. The motivation behind the bill at the time was a 2020 protest outside of the home of former Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll and conservative journalist Liz Collin, in the wake of George Floyd's murder. Representative Hudson, co-author of the Residential Protesting Bill, has indicated a willingness to work with those who oppose the bill during the committee hearing. Representative Sandra Feist, who represents District 39B, suggested amending the language on existing legislation.

REPRESENTATIVE SANDRA FEIST: Rather than this very broad language, I think that we could amend the existing harassment statute to try to achieve your goals.

JOSE OZORIA: His response—

REPRESENTATIVE WALTER HUDSON: Thank you, Representative Feist, it's an intriguing idea. Let's talk about it.

JOSE OZORIA: While there are significant Republican lawmakers who support the bill, many believe that due to the split control of the Minnesota Legislature, this bill's passage is unlikely. For North Star Stories, I'm Jose Ozoria.

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HOST: State legislators have introduced anti-protest bills multiple times with recent efforts targeting disruptive tactics such as blocking highways, airport access roads and transit lines. Following the murder of George Floyd, several bills were introduced to increase penalties for protests, and already existing federal law protects private homes from protests. To understand more about this topic, we are joined by Professor Jane E Kirtley, who directs the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota. Welcome back to North Star Stories.

JANE E KIRTLEY: Thank you, Grace.

HOST: So the US has a long history of protests at symbolic locations, from lunch counters to state capitals. Why is the ability to visibly protest so important in democracy?

JANE E KIRTLEY: It has the effect of allowing ordinary individuals to make their feelings heard by the people that could change policy, could change law. I'm thinking about the protest against Target, the boycott, and that is a classic example of expressing a viewpoint in an economic way that ultimately changes policy.

HOST: How does protesting outside an elected official's home fit into actions protected under the First Amendment? And where do courts usually draw the line?

JANE E KIRTLEY: It's tricky. When you're talking about a residential protest. We certainly have under the First Amendment a right to protest on public sidewalks, for example, or other kinds of public places. Once you go onto private property, however, you no longer have that right unless the owner consents to your presence. What makes residential protests even more complicated is the fact that there's a long line of Supreme Court cases that recognizes that the owners or residents of private property have a right to what is called Quiet Enjoyment. So it's a principle that affects both government actors and non-governmental actors. So when we're talking about government actors, in my opinion, there is a stronger argument to be made that protesting in a place where you are likely to reach them is an important part of that democratic process.

HOST: You know, supporters of this bill say it's about protecting families and their homes, while opponents warn it could chill free speech legally and practically. What do you think would change for ordinary people who want to protest if this bill becomes law?

JANE E KIRTLEY: One of the questions that the US Supreme Court always asks is, "Are there alternative channels with which you can communicate your viewpoint?" And they would probably say that you don't need to protest outside of someone's home. You can protest at the legislature or at their place of work or someplace else, and those are categories of locations that this bill would seem to permit. Again, it's focusing on the home. So I think the question really becomes, what are you trying to accomplish by protesting outside of someone's home? The key I think, to this issue, is simply this, you can't hold somebody hostage inside of their house. You cannot intimidate them or put them in fear of their safety or their children's safety. There's already existing laws that deal with that, and so the necessity for a law like this is really hard for me to fathom, quite honestly.

HOST: So I'm curious, what message does it send when restrictions fall mainly on community protesters and not on government actors, and how might that affect public trust?

JANE E KIRTLEY: I think that's a really important question, especially after what was experienced here in the Twin Cities during the ICE Surge. Many people saw intrusions into their neighborhoods, into their homes, if they were in, for example, multi-family dwellings as government overreach, and now you could say that if that kind of activity is condoned or allowed to continue, or we're told we don't have any way to fight back against it, it becomes really ironic to think that ordinary people who are simply trying to express their viewpoints, will be restricted from engaging in activity that is far less problematic, far less dangerous, certainly and far less likely to impose any real threat to security. I think it is frankly, based on viewpoint discrimination, which is the most problematic kind of discrimination under the First Amendment. Government cannot pick and choose which viewpoints it's going to endorse, at least when it comes to the exercise of First Amendment rights.

HOST: Well, thank you so much again for joining us and sharing your insight with us, Professor Kirtley.

JANE E KIRTLEY: Thank you.

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HOST: After the break, how many Minnesotans navigate financial decisions while keeping their cultural and faith traditions. This is North Star Stories, Voices from Where We Live, produced by AMPERS, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. We'll be right back.

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HOST: You are listening to North Star Stories. I'm Gracie J. In other news from across the state…

Minnesota lawmakers are moving ahead with a plan to allow tightly regulated, therapeutic use of psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in over 200 species of mushrooms, for adults 21 and older. The House Health Finance and Policy Committee has approved a bill that would let qualified patients receive psilocybin‑assisted therapy at licensed facilities or approved private residences, under the care of trained facilitators. This type of therapy involves using the psychoactive compound in "magic mushrooms" in combination with psychotherapy to treat mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, PTSD, and addiction. During the hearing, Stefen Egan, an army veteran, said:

STEFAN EGAN: Unlike many of my brothers and sisters-in-arms, I was provided with the opportunity to use psilocybin in a therapeutic manner, albeit from the illicit market, but therapeutic nonetheless. Without that access, I wouldn't be here. Those brain lesions healed, brain cells reconnected, and I could function.

HOST: The Department of Health and the Office of Cannabis Management would oversee the program, with guidance from a new Psychedelic Medicine Advisory Committee.

A Minnesota poultry company that went bankrupt is now facing a fine after more than a million chickens were left without feed on contract farms in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. Pure Prairie Poultry filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy In 2024 and that year stopped delivering feed or picking up birds it owned. A Wisconsin judge found the company guilty on 30 counts of animal mistreatment and ordered a $13,575 fine, though it's unclear who can pay it.

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HOST: Next, for many new immigrants, the process of cultural assimilation includes learning new, different ways to perform routine everyday tasks, so they align with the culture and religious beliefs. Reporter Faaya Adem explores how Islamic financing is creating new pathways to home and car ownership for Muslim communities while staying aligned with faith.

FAAYA ADEM: In the United States, interest rates are built into nearly every major financial transaction. So what does that mean for Muslims who can't receive or pay interest but are trying to build wealth in Minnesota? When Siham Mahamood bought her first home, she says the hardest part was finding professionals who understood Islamic financing.

SIHAM MAHAMOOD: I am a real estate agent with Keller Williams Premier Realty. I have been an agent since 2020. What got me into the industry is I purchased my own home and I just didn't have the best—it's not that I didn't have the best experience. I just feel like the people I was working with wasn't well educated in Islamic financing, and that's one of the things that was a non-negotiable for me.

FAAYA ADEM: Rather than issuing a conventional loan, banks will structure the financing as a sale or partnership, which allows it to meet federal regulations without charging interest.

SIHAM MAHAMOOD: I think because everyone thinks real estate is haram, and obviously interest is haram, and I feel like it's just kind of bridging the gap of explaining how it's halal and what is the differences between the traditional bank and the Islamic financing banks?

FAAYA ADEM: There are two common models Islamic banks use. One is called murabaha, which is when the bank purchases the home, first as an agreed-upon profit, and then sells it to the buyer at that fixed price. The other is musharaka, a partnership model where the bank and buyer co-own the property, and the buyer gradually purchases the bank's share over time.

SIHAM MAHAMOOD: In terms of like credit checks, in terms of taxes, pay stubs, like things that are required from a regular bank, Islamic financing is also going to require that.

FAAYA ADEM: One of the institutions offering this type of financing nationwide is University Islamic Financial Corporation, often known as UIF, a faith-based subsidiary of University Bank. Jameel Ahmed, a UIF district manager, explained that from a numbers perspective, the payments can look similar to a conventional mortgage.

JAMEED AHMEL: We follow Fannie and Freddie Mac guidelines to approve a customer, meaning we check credit, we check income, we check down payment, just like any conventional bank does.

FAAYA ADEM: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government-backed companies that buy mortgages from lenders and set many of the standards for conventional home loans. He says the distinction lies in the contract language and structure.

JAMEED AHMEL: When you're buying a house, what is allowed is a million-dollar question and what is not allowed, right? So signing a contract saying I'll pay interest is not allowed. Signing a contract saying, you know, saying you're buying a house at an agreed upon price is allowed.

FAAYA ADEM: For Siham Mahamood, the key to home ownership is education. She says she's seen a noticeable increase in first-time home buyers, especially among immigrant families who have previously hesitated.

SIHAM MAHAMOOD: I feel like at the very beginning, I was convincing people to like what their options are, and now I feel like I do a lot less convincing. I feel like people are going to seminars with Islamic financing. They have webinars. They've made it so easily accessible and that I don't have to do as much convincing.

FAAYA ADEM: The same faith considerations against paying or charging interest apply when buying a car. Ovais Khan works at a Luther dealership in Minnesota. He says many Muslim customers come to him, asking him how they can avoid interest.

OVAIS KHAN: Yeah, I started getting a lot of Muslims, a lot of Somali customers. So I went up to my dealership. I was like, you know, I have a market over here available who's willing to buy the cars, but we cannot do interest.

FAAYA ADEM: Khan says there are two main paths to zero interest car purchases. First, some manufacturers occasionally offer promotional 0% financing. Second, dealerships can buy down the interest rate, meaning they reduce it to 0% by sacrificing profit on the deal.

OVAIS KHAN: If I tell you 99% of my 0% deals that I do, I barely make any money. I mean the dealership barely makes any money.

FAAYA ADEM: The dealership will typically make money through selling other products to buyers.

OVAIS KHAN: I will sell you warranties. This is how I kind of cover up the dealership. You know, I lose money at the front of the vehicle. I lose money on the, on the vehicle, but I make money on the back, but there's an if on it that if you buy the warranties from me. So it is not 100% of the time.

FAAYA ADEM: There are also limitations with these cars, such as buyers typically needing very good credit above 740 and repayment terms are shorter than conventional loans. Still, Khan says word spreads quickly, and he's selling 30 to 40 cars a month.

OVAIS KHAN: I am very black and white when it comes to, you know, upfront paperwork with my customers, I tell them, hey, listen, go through all the numbers. If you see any traces of Rima on it? Let me know. You know, we will make sure that it's not there.

FAAYA ADEM: For many Muslims in Minnesota, avoiding interest isn't just a financial choice, it's a religious one. In a state where owning a car is often essential and home ownership is a pathway to stability, Islamic financing is becoming more normalized. For North Star Stories, I'm Faaya Adem.

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HOST: Like the Muslim community, other immigrants in the state accommodate their traditions and use their cultural knowledge to navigate their finances. To learn more about it, we are joined now by Miguel Quiñones, a PhD candidate in Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota, studying financial acculturation in immigrant families. Thank you so much for joining us today, Miguel.

MIGUEL QUINONES: Yes. Thank you for the introduction and for having me.

HOST: So many immigrant communities bring financial practices rooted in culture or faith from an economic perspective. How do these alternative systems fit within the mainstream US banking model?

MIGUEL QUINONES: Historically, those alternative financial systems, they have not fit really well within the systems that we have in the US. But with recent advancements in technology, but also awareness, they're starting to create more space for those systems, for example, like the zero interest financing options, as well as lending circles that most often occur informally among communities. I'm certain to see some institutions who offer products that are similar and function similarly to lending circles, but that operate under the protection of the institution Miguel.

HOST: How does a lending circle work?

MIGUEL QUINONES: So a lending circle is where several people who trust each other, usually in the same community or family, come together, and they pool their resources to support one person who has a need. And so they come together for a couple weeks, and each week, for example, they might all contribute $500 and that pool of money goes to one person that week, and the next week, they do it all over again. But each week it goes to a different person in the lending circle. So that by that time it ends, every person has had a chance to get that lump sum of money, and there has been no interest accrued on that.

HOST: When immigrant families use non-traditional tools to buy homes or cars, how does that shape their ability to build wealth compared with conventional credit and loans?

MIGUEL QUINONES: When they use these different systems, they can definitely help families build assets, but that may not always translate into something measurable, like a credit history. For example, families might live together, multiple families in one household, and they do this strategy where they help pay off the home right away, and then once it's paid off, they move on to help another family member buy another home. And that might be really good to help families build equity faster and to reduce that debt burden quicker. But sometimes that means that only one person's name is on the mortgage, or it means that others are contributing financially, and they're demonstrating that they can and they are credit worthy, but the there's no paper trail for that.

HOST: So then what could banks, credit unions and policy makers do differently to recognize and support culturally rooted financial systems among immigrant communities while still managing risk and regulation?

MIGUEL QUINONES: I think the solution is definitely recognition and then adaptation. And that looks a lot of different ways. For example, the bank or the institution, it might be beneficial for them to have a cultural intermediary, someone who exists in between the bank and the community. But also building on that, I think it's going to require different innovations in the products and services that banks and institutions offer that recognize these more culturally rooted practices and figures out how to incorporate them into their traditional offerings.

HOST: Well, thank you so much, Miguel. That's all the time we have.

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HOST: And lastly, Minnesota's Gitchi-Gami State Trail is getting national attention. It's been nominated for USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice Award for Best Recreational Trail. The paved trail, built and managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, currently stretches about 36 miles along the North Shore, connecting towns like Silver Bay, Schroeder, Lutsen and Grand Marais with big Lake Superior views and access to several state parks. When it's finished, the trail is expected to run about 86 miles from Two Harbors to Grand Marais as a non-motorized route for biking, walking, and more. Fans of the trail can vote for the Gitchi-Gami once a day through April 6 on the USA Today's 10Best website.

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This is it for today's program. If you missed any part of today's newscast, you can find this and past episodes at AMPERS.org, or listen to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. You can also get North Star Stories Daily on our website or check your favorite station's schedule. Thanks for listening, and we'll be back next week with more stories and voices from the North Star State.

OUTRO: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at AMPERS.org.